The Bajajs From Gurugram Become The First Father-Daughter Duo To Scale Mount Everest

IWB Post

May 17, 2018

On Wednesday morning, father-daughter duo Ajeet Bajaj and Deeya Bajaj from Gurugram scaled the highest peak in the world – Mount Everest and became the first one to flag the achievement.

Twenty-year-old Deeya summitted the peak at 4.30 am and father Ajeet followed her 15 minutes later. Happy and excited Deeya exclaims, “I saw the sunrise from the top of the world. It was an incredible sight,” from the base camp. Deeya maintained a live blog of their adventure through which she gave details about weather, the scenery, and their location.

Shirley Thomas Bajaj, Ajeet’s wife, told The Times of India, “They were obviously excited and elated. Deeya said they watched the sunrise from the top of the world, and that it was a beautiful experience. For Ajeet, the achievement was all the more special because this time, he was with his daughter.” Shirley received a message from Deeya and Ajeet at 10.30am the same day and shared their thrill and excitement with her.

After unfurling the Tricolour at top of the Everest, the two mountaineers began their descent and have reached North col (23,030 feet) via camp 3 (27,390 feet).

For Deeya and Ajeet, the idea of scaling Mount Everest together came as an inspiration from the many adventures they have had together since Deeya was a child. “Summer vacations for them (Diya and her sister) meant getting up early in the morning and going for wildlife safaris, scuba diving and trying their hands at other sports,” Shirley told The Hindu.

Besides setting the record of first father-daughter duo to scale the Mt. Everest, both Ajeet and Deeya have set individual records as well.

53-year-old Ajeet is a Padma Shri awardee who had become the first Indian to ski to the North Pole and the South Pole within a year in 2006-2007. Daughter Deeya, trained at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) in Uttarkashi, at the age of 17 became the youngest person to undertake the Trans-Greenland Skiing expedition in May 2011. In the following year, Ajeet and Deeya became the first Indians to ski across the Greenland Ice Cap.